Nike Slapped with Gender Discrimination Suit

Nike was just hit by a gender discrimination lawsuit alleging the company violated “state and federal equal-pay laws and fostered a work environment that allowed sexual harassment.” The suit was filed in Portland, Oregon in federal court on behalf of four former Nike employees, all of them women, who claim they were paid less than their male counterparts and argue that their managers allowed the harassment against them.

The four women in the suit are represented by attorney Laura Salerno Owens. When describing her client’s experiences, she said that Nike “continues to have a good-old-boys culture in which women enter the company with lower pay, and receive smaller raises and bonuses.” She added, “I think Nike wants to say that ‘Just a couple people were responsible for the problem and we’ve gotten rid of them.’ But we know that’s certainly not the case.”

Just what kind of discrimination did the women face, though? For starters, plaintiff Kelly Cahill, who worked for Nike for four years as a brand marketing director, claimed in the suit that she was “paid $20,000 a year less in 2017 than a male co-worker doing much the same job.” In response to the pay disparity, she filed four different complaints against her boss, who happened to be “one of the 11 executives who left the company last spring.” However, regarding her complaint about the pay issue, the suit alleges Nike’s human resources department did nothing to remedy the situation. As a result, Cahill “quit and went to work for Adidas.”

About Brianna Smith

Brianna Smith is a freelance writer and editor in Southwest Michigan. A graduate of Grand Valley State University, Brianna has a passion for politics, social issues, education, science, and more. When she’s not writing, she enjoys the simple life with her husband, daughter, and son.

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